JR Rosania, CSCS,  a 46-year-old personal trainer and coach, will be racing this weekend at the Ford Ironman Wisconsin Triathlon to raise money for the Pat Tillman Foundation through the Janus Charity Challenge. Take cover, folks - he might be calling on you to help out! JR Rosania raced at the Ford Ironman World Championship last October, Ford Ironman Arizona earlier this year, and is now on his third Ironman fundraising effort in less than 12 months! His efforts have already raised $45,000 for the foundation – his goal is to raise $100,000. Ironmanlive caught up to Rosania, a 12-time Ironman finisher, through the Janus Charity Challenge organizers as he prepared for this weekend’s Ford Ironman Wisconsin event.

Ironmanlive: JR, you’ve managed to continue to raise money through three different events. How on earth do you manage to do that – after the first race you’d think your friends and family would be running as soon as they saw you coming!

Rosania: What I’ve tried to do use my imagination. My goal is to reach as many potential donors as possible. It’s not realistic or possible to hit same people time and time again. For the Hawaii Ironman – my first year with the Janus Charity Challenge – I pretty much hit my friends and family up. It was a very personal thing for me, so it was easy for me to go to them and ask for their support. When I decided to continue raising money in Arizona, I decided to form the team to help raise funds through different people in different ways. The team is made up of “averge Joe” type people. We have uniforms and sponsors, and our objective is to raise funds for Pat Tillman foundation. The team sent out letters, pledge forms and each team member attacked their sources. I headed the whole thing up, and was getting pledge forms from all over the country through these 16 team members. Together we raised $28,000 in Arizona – got third place in the Janus Charity Challenge, and Janus pitched in another $4,000! 

For the Wisconsin race, I took another route. I tried to continue to think of new groups of people to bring on as donors, so I took more of a “corporate donation” angle. I asked team members to approach business owners, and I did the same.

People get bogged down and stop using their imagination and thinking outside the box when it comes to fundraising. I tried to think outside the box. I may not be the most successful fundraiser, but I also look at this as an awareness. $10 is just as meaningful as $10,000 as long as I’m spreading awareness about the foundation. Spreading awareness means a lot to me.

Ironmanlive: Why is the Pat Tillman Foundation so important to you?

Rosania: Pat Tillman and I were friends. I trained him for football for 8 years. I trained him for 2 marathons and one half marathon. I trained him for military service. One of the last things he said to me was “When I come back, I want to do the Hawaiian Ironman with you.

That’s why raising money for the foundation in Kona last year was so personal for me. Pat was a man of conviction. When he was killed, I thought “I need to do the Hawaii Ironman.” Pat influenced me personally. He put others first on a regular basis. That influence resides with me now. I want to keep his name out there, his spirit alive, and his message alive.

Ironmanlive: How did the Janus Charity Challenge change your Ironman experience?

Rosania: My business is training/coaching. I’ve been doing triathlons for over 20 years. I’ve done more than 150 triathlon races. Carrying the legacy on is a no-brainer. Now that I’ve done the Janus Charity Challenge, I couldn’t do an Ironman and not do a charity challenge along with it. There’s just too much meaning. It changed my attitude and effort toward the Ironman.

When I reach my $100,000 goal I may choose other foundations to work for … we’ll see. It provides a whole other type of motivation when I’m doing the race. It’s meaningful for me to represent the Tillman foundation, and with the Janus Charity Challenge there’s more fulfillment.

I don’t feel like I’m doing it for me anymore. That’s something I gained from my relationship with Pat. What’s hard for Ironman athletes is that it takes a lot of dedication and sacrifice to train, but if you can do something like the Janus Charity Challenge along with training for an Ironman, I think it takes the pressure off of you because your performance becomes less important than what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. My overall Inronman experience was enriched when I added fundraising. It gives you so much more to look forward to and a brighter outlook. I realized I was no longer doing the Ironman for a good race time. I was out there for such a greater purpose. The fulfillment comes from why I did it – not how I did.